Note to my email subscribers: I’ve received a few questions about how to leave comments since my redesign. If you are reading this post via email, simply click the post title above in green to be taken to this post directly to leave a comment. Or, click the logo above that to be taken to the home page. Let me know if you have any questions!

Greetings from Nicaragua! Sitting down to write this dispatch made me realize I’m in one of those weird zones where it feels like I’ve both been here forever and can barely believe I’ve even arrived. Miami was mayhem in the best way possible — I did and saw so much, spent time with so many great people, and barely found a moment to sneak away to my laptop in between.

In contrast, I’ve been in kind of a haze in my own head since I touched down in Nicaragua. I’ve been working hard on some freelancing opportunities that popped up and were too good to turn down and also just detoxing a bit from all the crazy holiday merry making now that I’m on my own again. So while I’m feeling a little guilty for how little I’ve done in Granada, I’m grateful for productivity and rest that has allowed me. I do feel the ocean calling, so I think I’m going to pack up and head for the coast soon, where I hope to intersperse my writing sessions with surf lessons and get all blissed out and sunkissed again.

Happy Monday!

Photo A

Miami glam at my cousin’s downtown apartment building and a South Beach restaurant.

Photo B

Craft cocktails served fresh at The Broken Shaker.

Photo C

Our Miami Beach hostel, The Freehand.

Photo D

Arriving in my 27th country.

Photo E

Cathedral de Granada, an image I waited days for the perfect light and clouds to capture.

Photo F

Obsessed with tile! Last night I sat in on a bit of a Sunday night service here, and it was beautiful.

Love that cathedral! I wish I hadn’t felt like death when I visited Granada, I would have taken a million more pictures! Such a photogenic little town. Be sure to go to the bell tower for the view overlooking the city! Hope you’re loving Nicaragua!Leah recently posted..

Tough choice between E and F, as I’m obsessed with churches! What makes that a little comical, is – I’m Jewish! 😉 But I’m not a fence-sitter, so I’ll go with Photo E, appreciating the colors of the beautiful cathedral against the bluebird sky and the fluffy cloud tufts. And especially appreciating that you waited for it! 🙂

I vote for E! I took a shot from essentially the same spot, but was not as patient and mine was not nearly as good :-). In spite of a severe case of food poisoning, I enjoyed Granada – hope you are too!

My favorite is definitely photo E. Great job! BTW, I noticed you’ve mentioned using PhotoNinja for photoshop. Is there a filter that you use for your photos, Meihoukai?

I read your post about Granada earlier on Instagram and it makes me sad that your experience was so… uncomfortable. scary? I’m not sure what word to use. Just unpleasant. Of all the countries I’ve lived in, Nicaragua was the safest, by far. It makes me really upset to know that it doesn’t feel like a safe place, anymore. I remember day trips with my parents in Granada for the carnival, and I used to run around without a care in the world… I hope the rest of your trip is better!Neysha recently posted..

Hey Neysha, the unwanted and aggressive attention I received in Granada definitely colored my time there somewhat, but there was a TON of positivity to outweigh it. I’m also quick to reassure that I didn’t feel unsafe, really — I know Nicaragua is statistically safe and I don’t think anyone wanted to hurt me, I think they wanted, for whatever reason, just to scare me. Hopefully I’ll be able to explain better in my full post that I’m working on for tomorrow 🙂

Oh! And as for the filters, yes, I use premium NoiseNinja pretty aggressively to offset the weaknesses of my lenses — can’t wait to upgrade to L series someday. I download and play around with other free filter packs from time to time too, but don’t have a specific one I’m married to.

The few I’ve poked my head in here so far have been full of light and color. And the service I peeped in on was so musical, too! I loved it. I think church attendance would be much higher elsewhere if they instituted similar policies 🙂

I have to go with pic B, I can really feel the atmosphere just by looking at it! (Ok, maybe I’m thirsty hehe)

By the way, love your whole blog. I’m currently traveling SE Asia (Palawan right now) and diving a lot as well and I have found your blog profoundly useful. Thank you so much for all the great info!

As per your recent Instagram post- I spent two years in Latin America and I feel your pain with the harassment (and I’m not even blonde) so all I can say is stay strong and keep enjoying the wonderful aspects. It helped me to be able to say something in the native language (especially “leave me alone” or “don’t touch me” or “help” if it got really out of hand). I hope you are able to find some of the many wonderful and kind Nicaraguans. I wish you all the best!!

Thank you Kristina, it’s so lovely to hear positive feedback from people using the blog in their travels. Thanks for the words of encouragement as well — hope to have my full post on the topic up this week!

I'm a New York native who left my home to explore the world slowly and thoroughly. I’m just a little obsessed with photography, scuba diving, and reading guidebooks to countries I have no immediate plans to visit.